This paper aims to clarify the notion of world-class universities (WCU) in the context of knowledge economy and globalized society, and analyze the characteristics of recent initiatives of Japanese government and higher education institutional especially in response to global rankings. It examines competitive funding schemes and envisions reforms towards WCU through the analytical framework that identifies strategic foci, areas of university operations and reform phases. The paper begins with a summary of a current understanding of the notion of WCU. It is followed by the explanation of global rankings and its impacts on government and institutional drives. It then examines the recent initiatives and discusses reform focuses on the leadership, autonomy and university missions. The paper concludes with reflection on the analysis, a proposed analytical framework of reform approaches, and ideas for future research.

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